Already getting buzz, TOP OF THE LAKE premieres today in a Sundance Film Festival first

It’s quickly appearing on critics’ must-see lists — and it hasn’t even premiered yet. TOP OF THE LAKE, the seven-part Sundance Channel original series from Oscar-winning director Jane Campion, is screening in its entirety today at Park City’s Egyptian Theater — the first television series to ever do so, a fact that in itself is getting critics talking.

“The Buzziest Thing at Film Festivals? It Might Just Be TV” read one Indiewire headline. The piece asks whether screening at a festival can garner a series “the same serious consideration as a potential arthouse film” — a category TOP OF THE LAKE might well fit into, despite its longer format.

“To be able to screen the series in its entirety for the film community is a fantastic opportunity,” says Campion, who will be on-hand after the screening along with stars Elisabeth Moss (Mad Men) and Holly Hunter (THE PIANO) for an audience Q&A session.

From the recent Television Critics Association winter press tour, The Hollywood Reporter TV critic Tim Goodman placed TOP OF THE LAKE (as well as the Sundance original series RECTIFY) at the top of his list of most-anticipated shows. Nicholas Bell of IonCinema.com agreed: “We’re excited to see this epic new mini-series from the masterful Campion.”